


The Only Exception

by Fangirlingmanaged



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Castiel is kind of a douche, Charlie Bradbury & Dean Winchester Friendship, Charlie and Dean are bros, Dean Feels, Happy Ending, M/M, Protective Charlie, Protective Sam Winchester, Song Lyrics, Unrequited Love, dean is sensitive, kind of sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-14
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-15 16:21:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1311310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlingmanaged/pseuds/Fangirlingmanaged
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean should have seen that coming.<br/>Or the one where Castiel breaks Dean's heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Only Exception

**Author's Note:**

> So i recently lost my best friend. Like, i realized he doesn't care about me as much as i do him, and that hurt. Plus, i love music and Dean angst and this came out of it.  
> Enjoy, Gabbs.

Dean Winchester is 18 years old, in love with the most gorgeous guy that has ever walked the earth. He’s an artist, a soccer player, not too bad looking, and a brother to two amazing boys. The oldest, Sammy, he’s as tall as Dean already and he’s barely thirteen. He has a mane of golden brown hair that drove all the little eighth graders crazy and will probably get him more than one stalker in high school. He’s brilliant, and kind, and a mouthy little shit. The youngest, Adam, is their baby half brother. He’s blond and blue eyed, with a perfectly formed cherub face and the most adorable giggle anyone will ever hear. He’s loud and can’t sit still for more than three seconds, he’s very smart and he likes for Dean to stay up with him out in the backyard and look up at the stars. He’s very protective, and Dean was his Dee-Dee when he was one year old and now that he’s the mighty two, Dee-Dee is the best thing he has.

Dean Winchester, big brother, and future automotive engineer, and senior at Lawrence High School, and a music aficionado and in love with one Castiel Novak, and it’s barely the first week of his senior year in high school and he is _heartbroken._

                                                                        ***

**Sam:**

Sam doesn’t understand what’s wrong with Dean these days. He used to be prickly before, before this senior year started, but now he’s snappish. He used to just brush off their dad’s bullshit, keep it on the down low so neither Sam nor Adam would hear about it, but now he screams. He takes bottles of whiskey and throws them at walls, he yells for their father to stop, he dumps him on the couch or the floor when he picks him up from the bar, and then he holes up on the basement gym. It frightens Sam; this isn’t the brother he knows.

He lets it go the first week, he’s a freshman in high school now, give him a break. He has other things he gets busy with, there’s mathletes and the really pretty girl in his pre-calculus class and the extremely hard chore to make friends that won’t make his social life worse than it could be. He forgets about Dean for awhile, gives him a wide breadth of space, and tries to keep his head down when their father is around. nobody really goes up to Dean around the house, except for Adam.

The little bugger, he stumbles down the stairs after Dean has gone down. He can’t really get down there on his own quite yet, to he grabs on to the railing and goes down, sitting his diapered butt on each step until he reaches the end, and Sam can hear him sigh in delight each time. The first time it happened, he tried to keep him from going down there, not knowing how Dean’s mood would make him react. He knows Dean would never forgive himself if he were to hurt Adam in any way. so Sam grabs the munchkin before he starts toddling down the stairs, which turns out to be a very bad idea.

See, Adam can be _very_ stubborn when he wants something. He gets particularly angry if someone keeps him from his Dee-Dee, so he tries to bite at Sam’s hand. When that doesn’t work, he kicks his chubby legs and flays around, hoping Sam will drop him. After about five minutes of this scuffle, the baby finds himself at a disadvantage and proceeds to scream bloody murder into Sam’s ear.

There’s a thump from the basement, and then he can hear Dean’s booted feet coming up the wooden stairs. Adam continues to scream “Want Dee-Dee, want Dee-Dee” into his ears and all Sam’s stupefied brain can think of is that he is _very_ glad their father isn’t home. Dean’s breathless when he reaches them, his shoulders and arms corded with muscle and tension, which mostly goes away when he sees they are unharmed. He proceeds to be pissed.

“What the hell, Sammy?” he growls at him, and grabs Adam out of his arms to cuddle him. See, anyone who knew Dean at school would be completely gobsmacked about how tender he is with their baby brother. This is a side of Dean nobody ever sees. Sam knows about it because, well, Dean’s practically raised both of them. He knows Dean will stay up with him all night if he’s sick, knows Dean will make him his favorite food just for the hell of it and will kick the asses from Lawrence to Zimbabwe of anyone who dares threaten him at school. “There, buddy, you’re okay, you’re fine. I’m right here, c’mon little man, you’re fine,” he keeps soothing Adam while the toddler sniffles into his neck. He gives Sam a look that says _explain, now._

“He, uh, he wanted to go see you,” Sam’s says in a whisper. Dean’s not John, and Sam knows that, but he’s conditioned to cower when he sees a look like that. Dean takes a step forward and Sam has to force himself not to bolt. This is routine for them, though, Dean knows it’s not exactly him that makes his little brothers cower so he approaches Sam slowly and brings a hand up to his chin. He tilts his head up, and Sam feels like he’s been kicked in the chest by how haggard his older brother looks. Dean’s got a sheen of sweat on his forehead, his eyes are red rimmed, and his hand trembles slightly from exhaustion.

“Why’s that a bad thing?” Dean asks over Adam’s voice, who’s begun babbling into Dean’s shoulder about something.

“You just looked like you wanted to be alone,” Sam tells him. he’s still looking at Dean though, cause that’s sadness in Dean’s eyes, and his older brother hasn’t been this sad since… Dread fills Sam like a tsunami wave. Dean hasn’t been this sad since he’s met Cas.

“Sammy, you know I always got time for you two,” he says gruffly and musses his hair. Sam glares out of habit and Dean gives him a sad half smile. “Tell you what, I’m gonna put Addy down for a nap and then you can tell me about your geek friends, alright?”

Sam tells him “jerk,” but nods all the same and then watches as Dean takes Adam down to the basement after the toddler requests Dean to sleep. Sam stays in sitting in the stairs, if he’s right about Cas then Dean’s choice of music will surely confirm it. He swallows hard as soon as the slow guitar comes from down stairs and Dean’s gruff voice begins to sing their brother to sleep.

**“ _When I was younger I saw,_**

**_My daddy cry, and curse at the wind_ **

**_He broke his own heart, and I watched_ **

**_As he tried to reassemble it._ **

**_And my momma swore, that she’ll never let, herself forget_ **

**_And that was the day that I promised_ **

**_I’d never sing of love, if it does not exist.”_ **

***

**Charlie:**

Charlie is not a violent person, she’s a geek, of course she isn’t violent. And sure, she’s probably learned a few fighting moves from all the action films she’s watched but that doesn’t mean that her first idea is to resort to violence. She’s not the type of person that will get mad, and then proceed to punch something or the person that made her mad. She leaves that kind of thing to her best friend, Dean freaking Winchester.

If she’d been told when she transferred her sophomore year that one of the most popular boys would become her best friend, she would have either laughed rambunctiously in the person’s face or swooned. Even if she wasn’t into dudes like that, she had to admit Dean’s face was damn pleasing.

But then, one day, Dean had waltzed, really the guy walked like he was dancing or something, he’d walked into class with a blue shirt with the picture of pipe in it. The words _Ceci nest pas un pipe_ scribbled underneath it, and Charlie had quite literally been unable to contain herself from the big smile that broke across her face. Dean had seen her, of course, and he’d winked. Then, as if the universe was out to prove that the boy was Charlie’s spirit animal, the teacher had asked her if she could stay after class and she’d said _okay_.

When class ended, she was putting her stuff into her backpack when Dean rapped in her desk and smiled crookedly at her. “I’d be careful with that word. You _know_ okay is bursting with sensuality,” he’d winked at her again, walked towards the door and thrown the universal Vulcan sign at her over his shoulder. Like any sane person would do, Charlie had tracked him down as soon as the teacher was done with her and insinuated herself to his lunch table. They’d been inseparable since then.

Which was why, very soon, Charlie was going to punch Castiel Novak’s lights out.

Dean had met Castiel last year, after they had been partnered up for a history project about World War II that Dean had totally and completely nerded out about. She didn’t know what his fascination with it was, I mean she got the whole Captain America thing, but the real deal about the war? Not so much. Anyway, she knew they’d had a rough patch at the beginning. Castiel had heard all the rumors about Dean, how he had a new flavor every week and he liked to play with girls all the time. They weren’t necessarily lies, but they weren’t the truth either. Dean was… very open about things. He went to parties often, being captain of the soccer team kind of gave him a high status, and he was very friendly with everyone. At parties, girls would try to get his attention and he would give it to them, but he wouldn’t just go ahead and make out with everyone. She knew, by fact, that Dean had kissed a total of five girls since their acquaintance sophomore year and had slept with only two girls. Lisa, the girl he’d give his virginity to freshman year, and some girl name Cassie he’d thought he was in love with at the end of sophomore year. Other than that, Dean was celibate.

Castiel, like every other asshole in school, had believed the rumors that some bitter girls had been spreading about Dean. One girl in particular, Ruby, had been telling everyone that Dean had sex with everything with two legs. Charlie didn’t understand why they believed her, since everyone knew they hated each other after Ruby had convinced her cousin Lilith to give drugs to Sam during the summer, but the rumors still spread like wild fire. When they were partnered up, Dean told her, Castiel had treated him like he had the plague. Until one day, Dean had cornered the blue eyed boy after school and demanded what his problem was, and Castiel had vehemently told him he didn’t want to associate with anyone with Dean’s “promiscuity.” Dean, Charlie had been told, laughed his ass off in the middle of the parking lot and had asked Castiel about where he was getting his information from. The little nerd had told him that it was from a very nice girl named Meg, who just happened to be Ruby’s best friend, and Dean had told him the story of Sam.

Castiel, like the big douche he is, had refused to believe at first. Until he’d gone to Kevin, one of their mutual friends, and he’d confirmed it. The Novak kid had apologized, profusely, bought a cherry pie for Dean and they had become friends. Charlie’s pretty sure her best friend had been lost the moment he smelled the cherries on Castiel. A little after that, Dean had had the big “gay panic” when he admitted to himself that he was probably, maybe, sort of in love with the blue eyed.

“Charlie, oh my God, Charlie I'm fucking gay,” he’d called her at two am in the morning on a Thursday. She was not responsible for the way she answered.

“No shit.”

“Oh my fucking God, Charlie, this ain’t the time. I’m fucking in love with Cas, dude, like what the fuck? I mean he’s good looking, shit, he’s _hot_ , but what the fuck? Benny’s kinda hot too, and Crowley’s got that bad boy shit going, but I’ve never felt _this_. Charlie, what the fuck?” Charlie had done her best that night to try and calm Dean down, and after about two hours Dean had gone to sleep. He’d decided that he was, in fact, bisexual and had resolved to explore his relationship with Castiel. Or Cas, as he called him.

Things had been going on okay, or so Charlie had thought. They were almost as inseparable as Charlie and Dean were, they spent innumerable hours talking or just being near each other. And dear God, the fucking _staring_ , but then Castiel had fucked it up. About halfway through junior year, he’d gone out with this girl named April. To say Dean was upset is an understatement, he got into more fights than usual, dedicated twice as much time to soccer, went to more parties than usual and began to have hookups that never ended in sex but became very apparent. Castiel and Dean drifted apart, Dean began to dim down and talk less, he began to carry his guitar around and Charlie could almost always find him in the music room strumming along and singing the saddest shit she had ever heard.

Then Castiel caught April cheating and they broke it off. Like a good bro, Dean had been there when the other boy moped around a little dejectedly. It was his first break up, he said, and he didn’t know if he should be sadder. Dean just nodded along and stayed by his side. They had become thick as thieves again, until two and a half months ago when Dean had told Castiel about his feelings and the asshole had broken Charlie’s best friend’s heart.

“I should have known, Char,” he’d called her late into the night with the sound of whiskey heavy on his tongue. “I should have known it wasn’t gonna happen.”

Now, Castiel spent more time with his other friends Hester and Inias, while Dean smoked behind the bleachers or played his stupid sad songs in the music room.

**“ _I wish I was cold as stone,_**

**_Then I wouldn’t feel a thing_ **

**_Wish I didn’t have this heart,_ **

**_Then I wouldn’t feel the sting of the rain._ **

**_I could stand strong, and still_ **

**_Watching you walk away._ **

**_I wouldn’t hurt like this,_ **

**_Or feel so all alone.”_ **

**** *******

**Gabriel:**

To say Gabe was Dean Winchester’s friend is a bit of a stretch. They’d met during soccer season when Dean was a sophomore and Gabe a junior. The little shit had been fast, quickly outshining the other forwards and putting himself in the coach’s radar. The dude was dedicated, always stayed after practice to run more laps and kick the ball more, Gabe had thought he was one of those douches that just liked to show off. So, like a proper asshole, he’d stayed after practice with the excuse of practicing with Dean and see how long he stayed. After about an hour, Dean had smiled at him and told him he needed to leave.

“C’mon, man, I've still got some energy left,” Gabe had popped a bubble with the gum in his mouth. Dean had shaken his head and given him an apologetic look.

“Sorry, Gabe, I need to pick up my brother Sammy from tutoring and get my baby bro from daycare,” he’d grabbed his duffle and checked the time. Gabe had heard him swear and then he was shouting a goodbye and running towards the parking lot. To say Gabriel had felt like the biggest bag of dicks to ever exist was an understatement.

So when his little brother Castiel had come round talking shit about Dean, he’d quickly tried to diffuse the situation. But Cassie was as damn stubborn as their older brother Lucifer, and had continued to call Dean “promiscuous.” Gabe knew that word, his mother had said the same thing about Kali, but she _had_ been a whore. Dean wasn’t. He was very pleased when Castiel came back asking where he could buy some pie to apologize to Dean, which he realizes isn’t a very nice thing to be happy about, but he was glad his brother had become friends with the elder Winchester.

He had been feeling hopeful for a while, since Dean had kept showing up at his house and taken Castiel out to socialize. Not to mention, Gabriel had seen the way Dean stared at his baby bro, but he’d decided to leave it alone for once. Then they’d hit a rough patch when Castiel got a girlfriend and Dean had stopped talking to Cassie as much. He tried to hide it, but Gabe knew his baby brother well enough to know it was costing him. He almost seemed relieved when he’d caught the girl cheating. Dean and Castiel had started their friendship back again, with the soccer player even more protective of Castiel then.

Then, four months ago, Gabe had gotten wind from Kevin that Dean had asked Castiel out to a date and the little nerd had said no. to say the elder Novak was surprised is an understatement, but he’d let it go and had been thinking that maybe they’d overcome that obstacle too. Then a week passed, then a month, then three, and things were not getting better. Castiel was more irritable, more into his school work, and getting continually more reclusive. Gabe had seen Dean around, and he looked even more hassled than usual.

When Gabe had asked Castiel about why he’d said no, he’d wanted to throttle his brother. “I don’t want t be his flavor of the week, Gabe.” Like he didn’t know how much Dean _wasn’t_ like that. He wondered if there was something like sibling-cide because the thought that Castiel had actually said that to Dean’s _face_ was too fucking sad to think about.

Gabe decided to intervene by the end of their first semester of senior year. They were both running themselves into the ground. He was still pretty close to some of his younger high school friends, so he got wind about the talent show. A talent show in which Dean Winchester was competing. A talent show which just so happened to need a host.

He dragged Castiel out to the school that Friday night in early December, claiming that he needed the socialization and should attend at least one high school function. He had reluctantly agreed, and Gabe had had to smile at him. if he was correct about this, and Dean was the same Dean he had been when they met, he would most likely put all his pent up frustration into whatever performance he was putting up. So, Gabe situated Castiel as far out front as he possibly could and began his job. He’d been told that the seniors, because they were leaving, got to make a little speech at the beginning of their performance. This, Gabe thought, was perfect for the occasion.

Gabe is a very manly man who likes to do manly things. He will never admit this out loud, but the moment Dean opened his mouth, he had wanted to curl up in a ball of sympathetic sadness.

“So, uh, this song is… it’s, like, the way I've felt for the past few months, I guess. I just… I just really wanna say that rumors are… they hurt people, ya know? And they wreck important things sometimes, and yeah, the next time you wanna go ahead and start talking crap about someone? Just, just remember that. I recently had something very important to me taken away because of sh—crap I've never even thought of doing, and it’s been hell. So, yeah, I uh hope you guys enjoy this.”

One of the best and saddest performances followed that statement. When he turned to see his little brother as Dean was singing, he could see his whole world crashing down. Can’t say he blamed him, the lyrics were just too true.

**_“These labels that they give you,_ **

**_Just because they don’t understand…_ **

**_Yeah, and you're not invisible,_ **

**_Hear me out,_ **

**_There’s much more to life than what you're feeling now_ **

**_And someday you’ll look back on all these days_ **

**_And all this pain is gonna be invisible.”_ **

***

**Castiel:**

Castiel is a complete and utter _assbutt_. It took four months of pain and an excruciatingly sad performance for him to realize it, but it is true. He should have known better, he should have realized Dean would never use him just to pass the time. He should have known that Dean valued their friendship almost as much as he valued his family, he should have _known_ , Dean had proven it time and again. he should have never said all those things, he should have never believed those rumors, _he should have never broken Dean Winchester’s heart._

As he stands there, listening to his old friend’s performance, he can’t quite get his breathing in check. He can’t stop feeling like his throat’s closing up and his lungs are about to shut down. Not with the way Dean looks, not with those dark circles under his eyes that are so damn obvious in the damn spotlight, and he feels like his heart is going to beat its way out of his chest. He knows what he’s feeling’s just a fraction of what he made Dean feel.

When the whole talent show’s over, Dean wins second place and a five-thousand scholarship from some organization, he tries to worm his way into backstage. He tells everyone he’s the host’s little brother, and that he needs to speak to him. It’s not a lie, but he’s not going back there for Gabe. He finds him, _his Dean_ , with and arm around Charlie and beautiful blond boy on his hip. He’s smiling at a boy just about his height with long brown hair, Castiel knows it’s his brother Sam, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes, so Castiel knows it’s not that genuine. He hasn’t seen a real _Dean smile_ in about four months, and the guilt nearly doubles him.

Dean glances up and sees him lurking about, and the smile falls from his face, his expression turns deadly serious and his eyes go cold. Castiel can’t help the hurt that lances through him, but he can’t exactly blame the other boy either. Dean says something to Sam and Charlie, and then places the toddler on the ground. Charlie takes the baby’s hand and walks him in the same direction Castiel was standing and shoots him a dirty glare, he avoids her eyes. Sam stays back a little to give Dean a hug and then he’s trying to catch up with Charlie, he runs into Castiel hard and doesn’t apologize, that tells the blue-eyed boy enough.

Dean turns around as Castiel approaches, putting his guitar into its case and grabbing his trophy and the certificate he got. “If you’re here to talk shit about what I did up there, you can shove it up your ass, Castiel. I’m not in the mood,” he snaps the lid of the case hard. The fact that he calls him Castiel and not Cas makes him want to cry.

“I just wanted to apologize,” he says in a small voice, not sure what else to do.

Dean give a mirthless laugh that makes Castiel bite his lip hard enough to draw blood. “You’ve had four fucking _months_ for that,” he spits out and then shakes his head. “So much for my flavor of the week, huh?” he shoves Castiel out of the way and walks away. Castiel can’t do much but turn around, his mouth open, his arm extended to catch Dean, when his arm gets grabbed by Gabe.

“Let him cool off,” Gabe says, watching as Dean stomps his way out of the room with a white-knuckled grip on the handle of his case.

“I hurt him,” is all Castiel can think of saying.

“Yeah,” Gabe says.

“What do I do?”

“You fix it, little brother; you stay here and help him pick up the pieces.”

The talent show marked the end of the week before Christmas break, and it leaves entirely too much time to wallow in self hatred. He mopes around the house, barely gets off bed, and constantly thinks of ways in which he could off himself. Well, not off himself, more like kick his own stupid ass. He can’t stop thinking about Dean, and wonders if the other thinks of him, then cringes away from that thought. He can only imagine what Dean’s thinking. He probably hates him now, now that Castiel has barely begun to understand that he’s in love with him.

When they go back to school to start their second semester, he thinks he’s ready to confront the mess he’s made. He’s decided that he will do _anything_ to get Dean back, that even if he has to go down on his knees, he will never stop asking for Dean’s forgiveness. His first mission of the day is finding out where, exactly, Dean hides during lunch. He’s pretty sure Charlie will kick him in the balls if he so much as looks at her, so he decided to go with the lesser of two evils and tracks Sam down.

Sam, understandably, punches him in the face as soon as he asks where Dean is. He doesn’t break anything, but Castiel knows he’ll be sporting a beautiful bruise.

“Stay the hell away from my brother,” the younger boy hisses at him.

“I want to apologize,” Castiel tries to sound as sincere as he feels.

“I think you’ve done enough,” the young Winchester spits at him.

“I need to speak with Dean, Sam. I need to apologize, grovel, beg, whatever it takes. Please, it’s killing me,” his voice cracks, and suddenly Sam’s form becomes blurry. “I can’t stand the thought that I’ve hurt him this much. Please, please help me make this better. I love him, Sam, _please._ ”

“If you hurt him again, I will hunt you down and I will beat you up,” Sam says and then bites his lip, as if deciding whether or not he wants to further hurt his brother. He then sighs and shakes his head. “He’s in the music room.”

“Thank you, God Sam, thank you,” Castiel takes off at a run, not seeing Sam’s half smile.

He’s out of breath when he reaches the music room and the door is closed, but he can hear the guitar on the other side and he knows Dean’s the one that’s playing. His hands shake and his forehead’s beading with sweat, but he knows he has to do this. He knows he has to make things better, because what he’s hearing right then? What Dean’s playing? The thought of Dean feeling _that_ much pain is knifing Castiel’s heart.

**_“And I’ve given everyone I know,_ **

**_A good reason to go._ **

**_But I came back with the belief,_ **

**_That everyone I love is gonna leave me._ **

**_Yeah, it’s all alright_ **

**_I guess it’s all alright_ **

**_I got nothing left, inside of my chest_ **

**_But it’s all alright.”_ **

Castiel pushes the door open before he can chicken and hopes their future is much better.

                                                                        ***

**Dean:**

It takes them a while to get back to what they were, to even speak to each other without the awkwardness they feel. The talk in the music definitely helps thought. They’re both well aware of how the other feels; they know where they went wrong before and how much it affected them. They’ve matured, he realizes, they’ve aged a couple years in just a few months. He can’t say they go to being joined at the hip again right away; they test the waters and give each other as much breadth as they can.

It takes three weeks for them to talk to each other without weighting their words careful and trying not to offend one another. It takes them a month to get back to having lunch together and being seen in public. It takes them about six weeks for Dean to offer Castiel and ride and for Castiel to invite Dean over. It takes two months for Dean to call Castiel Cas again, and that the blue eyed boy finds himself breathing a sigh of relief the first time he hears it again, especially since it’s accompanied by the very first real Dean smile in six months. By the end of the second month of their new friendship, they’ve graduated to hand holding. Dean’s the first one to make the move, because Cas understands that whether Dean gets it or not, Dean’s in charge of where they take this thing. Dean’s the one that has to decide whether or not he can trust Castiel again. Dean’s eternally grateful for that. Through all of that, though, they decide that they _will never_ use what happened between them to hurt each other, not matter what happens.

Dean kisses Castiel in the soccer field after two and a half months of new friendship, right in front of God and everyone else. They’d won their last game, Dean going out with a bang, and Cas can’t help his excitement as he runs into the field and hugs him tight. Dean lets himself be smothered before he pushes Castiel gently away and pulls out a small rose blossom seemingly out of nowhere and drops to one knee.

“would you go to prom with me, Cas?”

Castiel seems like he can’t do anything but nod, tears making his eyes shine, and Dean feels a pang in his chest. He loves this geek, this nerdy little dude that had broken his heart and put him back together, got him out of the depression he was sinking into and has nurtured him back to a better individual. He can’t thank God enough for him. So he does the only thing he can think of, he pulls Cas close and seals their mouths together. It’s slow, and gentle, and at their own pace like everything else about this new relationship and he knows it’s perfect. It’s more than a kiss; it’s a bond snapping together, a mark branding itself into his heart, a promise of forever.

After the game, Crowley invites him and his new beau to his house (read mansion) for a party. He accepts and drives himself and Castiel home. He needs to change and take of his brothers first, but he can’t wait to show Cas off. So he showers and redresses quickly, gives Sam money and specific instructions of what to do and who to call in case of emergencies, and gives Adam a kiss in the forehead as he naps.

The party’s in full swing when they get there, but there’s apparently a space reserved for Dean’s beloved Impala and Dean parks and turns to Cas. He’s twitchy and doesn’t seem to know what to do with his hands, his eyes are wide and so very blue, and he looks terrified.

“Hey,” Dean says softly and grasps his hand. Cas clutches back like he’s all that’s tethering him to the ground, and Dean chuckles. “You’ll be fine. I won’t leave you alone for one minute, and we can go whenever you say the word.” And he brings Cas’s hand up to his lips and brushes a kiss against his knuckles, enjoying the simple fact that he _can_.

“Do you promise?”

“Always, baby,” and the smile Cas gives him is enough to erase everything that’s happened right there and then.

They go in, hand by hand, and get cheered at and catcalled good naturally by everyone there. There’s a cover band playing in the back yard so they make their way there, grabbing a couple drinks as they go, and then just stand in front of the stage. Dean loops his arms around Castiel from behind, and feels like he’s finally found his own perfect haven.

Sometime later, a plastered Crowley gets up stage and manages to drag Cas with him. He throws a panicked look at Dean but he just shrugs and motions him forward. Cas glares all the while, and Dean throws him a kiss. As soon as Cas starts singing, Dean knows there’s no way in hell he’s letting this man go.

**_“if the sky that we looked upon_ **

**_Should tumble and fall_ **

**_All the mountains should crumble to the sea_ **

**_I won’t cry, I won’t cry_ **

**_No I won’t shed a tear_ **

**_Just as long as you stand, stand by me.”_ **

                                                                        ***

**~~Adam~~ ** **Addy:**

Addy does not like Dee-Dee’s boyfriend. He remembers how, a little bit ago, Dee-Dee had fallen asleep with him and had said the name Cas. Dee-Dee had been crying that night and Addy does not like it when he cries. He doesn’t like Dee-Dee to be sad.

So when his big brother brings the boy home, Addy is not happy. He glares from his high chair as they eat dinner, ignores him when he talks to him, and refuses to be touched by him. He hurt his Dee-Dee and that is a no, no. Dean keeps him in his arms that whole night, and Sammy laughs for some reason. Addy is confused, but that’s okay because Dean’s not touching the boy anymore. But then, Dee gets mad when Addy bites the boy and takes him up to his room.

Addy’s crying the whole, he doesn’t understand why Dee’s so mad, he just wanted to keep the boy who hurt him away. Dee sits him down in his racecar bed and crouches in front of him. He has his serious face on.

“What to tell me what’s wrong, monkey?”

“Bad boy hurt Dee,” Addy says angrily and crosses his pudgy arms over his chest and pouts. Dee smiles for some reason.

“God, I love you, kid” he says and brushes Addy’s hair away from his face. “But Cas won’t hurt me, okay? He’s good, and sweet, and kind. He’s a good person, okay?”

“He made Dee cry,” Addy is still not convinced.

“Yeah,” and Dee looks like he will cry again and Addy hates it. “But he won’t do it again, buddy. Because… Because—“

“Because Cas loves Dee very much,” a deep voice says from the door and Addy looks at the boy. Dee does too, and Addy sees it. It’s a smile, a big shining smile and it makes Dee look very nice. And Dee’s smiling because of the boy, so it’s probably not so bad, right?

“Okay,” Addy says quietly and Dee hugs him. the boy slowly makes his way to crouch in front of Addy too and he finds he really likes Cas’s eyes.

“I won’t hurt Dee, again, okay Adam?” and this must be serious because he uses Addy’s full name. Addy nods just as seriously and the boy takes his little hand and shakes him. Dee lays him down in bed and each of them, their brothers as Addy will come to know them, lay on each side of him. Dean asks him what he wants and Addy says Mac, and they both laugh, and Addy doesn’t understand but Dee sings and he closes his eyes and his warm and happy, and that’s all that matter anyway.

“ ** _And acquaintances turn to friends, I hope those friends, they’ll remember me_**

**_Hold the night for ransom and kidnap the memories_ **

**_Not sure there’s a way to express what you meant to me._ **

**_Sit around a table and use those years as the centerpiece.”_ **

**Author's Note:**

> So, the songs are  
> The Only Exception- Paramore  
> Cold as Stone- Lady Antebellum  
> Invisible- Hunter Hayes  
> All Alright- F.U.N  
> Stand by me- Ben E. King  
> Cowboy Boots- Macklemore ft Ryan Lewis


End file.
